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THE WETTEST WINTER SINCE 1760 - YOU'RE NOT KIDDING!

My last post, back at the very beginning of January, a very wet and windy day.... well it's still wet and windy. There really haven't been many days dry in-between. We're used to wet weather here in the UK, but this is ridiculous! My heart goes out to all those people who have been flooded, there can be nothing much worse than filthy water coming into your home and businesses for weeks on end; the news coverage of the farms under water are just appalling and I hate to think how many animals have been drowned. Thank heavens we're on chalk here and on relatively high ground. The old timers in our village say the valley has never been so flooded - I certainly haven't seen it so bad in the 16 years we've been here, I don't actually remember a winter quite as wet as this one, and there's been a lot! Apparently the wettest since 1760 ... I'm very relieved I don't work with horses any more! Just up the road the village of Hambledon is closed off because of the floods. There's so many trees down too, the whole countryside looks a total mess.

Our large group of females have turned one corner of their 9 acre field to mud as they wait near the gate for their feed twice a day and gather round their hay feeders, thankfully the rest of the farm isn't too bad. We're lucky to have got away with just a bit of damage.

I have decided not to move them into a different field for the time being, on the basis that they're at least eating lots of good quality hay, which is keeping them warm and in good condition, and they're only trashing one field in the process. It also makes taking hay out to them with a wheelbarrow a bit easier for me, being downhill. The other fields are 'resting' ready to receive them in the Spring, if it ever comes! I may well change my mind on that one though.

The wind outside right now is roaring like a freight train, it's very dark, so I can't see what's going on, but I'm sure there'll be more damage to find in the morning. Blimey sounds like a tornado! More fencing, more trees - hopefully not more of our shelters....

The weanlings are now more or less halter trained and are getting used to me picking up their feet whilst being tied up. I've entered 3 of them into the National Show and older ones too, 10 altogether - I hope it's a bit dryer by then, they don't look up to much at the moment!

It's gone all quiet outside now - I'm tempted to go and see if everyone's OK out there ...

The river Meon at Droxford - this bits usually the picnic area ...

The girls - any more breakfast?

So filthy, I can't really tell who is who to be honest!

A brief glimpse of the sun - Cotton Fields and Enigma studying the cat on the other side of the gate

About Me

I live in the pretty Meon Valley of Hampshire with my Husband Peter and daughter Rebecca, dogs Jazz and Polly, our cat Marmalade and our lovely herd of Huacaya alpacas. We have been keeping and breeding alpacas since 1998 and our lives pretty much revolve around them, which is great most of the time!